Tom Karlya

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Missed DX of Diabetes……Adults, Would Love to Hear from YOU!

Sometimes, when our focus is on something specific, we tend to have tunnel-vision for that one aspect. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I always have tried to stay open-minded to see outside the specificity of what has my focus. And recently, as I approach the various means to get the word out about the missed diagnosis in people (mostly children) being diagnosed with type one diabetes, there is another aspect to this mission that needs to be talked about as well. And equally as dangerous.

Dr. M. Regina Castro defines LADA in this way: Latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA) is a slow progressing form of autoimmune diabetes. Like type 1 diabetes, LADA occurs because your pancreas stops producing adequate insulin, most likely from some “insult” that slowly damages the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. But unlike type 1 diabetes, with LADA, you often won’t need insulin for several months up to years after you’ve been diagnosed.

Some have stated it falls between type 1 and type 2 diabetes calling it type 1.5. Personally, knowing what I do about T1D, I find little difference in LADA and T1D; you end up in the same place and many will tell you that looking back when their child was diagnosed, they probably had it for some time before the lack of insulin being produce started causing symptoms.

My point is not to discuss the differences between T1 and LADA but to ask how many adults have seen a medical professional, and because they are adults, were told they have T2 Diabetes. If it is a slower pathway from the time it starts until symptoms show (and continue) it must be an occurrence where adults see their professional at an early stage because they feel something is wrong, and they are diagnosed with T2 when it is LADA. Which means the treatment they are given……is wrong. That’s just as dangerous as having flu/virus, like symptoms, being seen, and being sent home.

How long before the treatment of T2 misdiagnosed, takes a toll because it is actually T1D, or LADA as the case may be?

Could not DKA be the same result? So today I seek input from all. Clearly more and more adults are being diagnosed with T1D. Hence why the words juvenile diabetes are now changed to type one. If you are an adult with T1 or LADA and you were misdiagnosed, could you please share a little bit on what happened in your life.

In our diabetes world; misdiagnosed is misdiagnosed. Young adults or adults seeing their doctor with a blood sugar of 212 could easily be told, “Well you have type two diabetes”. But the pancreas is shutting down and two weeks later that same person could have a blood sugar of over 500 because it’s not T2D but they keep telling themselves, “well the doctor said I had diabetes”, not knowing it isn’t T2D at all and they too have become a ticking time bomb……..THAT scares the hell out of me.